SG:U Hulu Linkage Now Permanent

Look over there in the sidebar, right under the Big Idea. There’s your permanent link to the last five episodes of Stargate: Universe, courtesy of Hulu. Mind you, at the moment it’s just to the last two episodes, because only two episodes have aired. But when there are more than five, it’ll be to the last five episodes. Or something, man. Don’t ask me, I don’t run Hulu. The point is, if you missed an episode on TV, you can catch up by linking through. Because I’m all about helping you watch the show that pays me money.

Now, if you’re reading this via RSS, you won’t actually see the thing I’m talking about. Heck, you might not even have a sidebar. So, um, here, have a Hulu link. Seeing as you’re being difficult and all.

44 thoughts on “SG:U Hulu Linkage Now Permanent”

You know, I’ve only watched the original movie with Kurt Russel and James Spader. And yet, I decided to give this spinoff a chance and am surprised by how well I can keep up despite not knowing one bit of the accumulated lore from the previous shows.

I can’t quite put my finger on it yet, but I find this show very, very KEWL! I’m certainly hooked enough to keep watching.

awesome. oddly enough, i didn’t know you were the creative consultant to that show before i started reading your blog. you just jumped up in cool points with me. (i LOVE stargate. all of them.) not that it matters, but i felt the need to share…

SGU has a lot more of those snappy, camera jumps, designed to bump up your heart rate. It is just dark enough to set a new mood apart from either previous series. I thought that (maybe) there were a few too many “tongue in cheek” moments in previous series, but I still hope we get a few in SGU.

There are definitely some things I have not made sense of yet. In the beginning of the first episode before anyone gated onto the Destiny, there were footsteps and lights coming on in the various areas of the ship as the camera “walked through” the still “unoccupied” ship. From Atlantis, we know that happens in Ancient technology when it senses the presence of a “person”.

At the end of the second/third part of the “Air” episode, a small ship zooms away from the Destiny after the CO2 scrubbing problem is solved once Lt Scott and Msgt Greer bring back a mega concentrated duffle bag of Calcium Carbonate, thanks to Eli risking his arm being snatched off from inserting it into the event horizon of the stargate. Why Rush didn’t know that was a risk is unclear. But, Rush’s issues seem to be getting in the way of him being completely forthcoming.

The science of the Calcium Carbonate scrubbing CO2 from depleted atmosphere has been around since the first U-boats, so that makes sense. It is however questionable that one duffle bag could contain enough of it to scrub the air for all of the occupants of the Destiny. We can only assume that it must have been of the most concentrated form possible. And that must have done the trick.

I totally did not get what was happening with the body swapping with the Stones. I can only say it is probably a good thing that Lou Diamond Phillips character is not physically present on the Destiny. I hope we don’t see him nearly screw up anything else.

I got the part wrong about there being something between TJ and Scott. He has it going on with the Brunette who gated back onto the Destiny from the sand planet with the second away team after the blond chemist and the one military guy who gated to one of the other four addresses (Curtiss & Palmer – why I can remember their names and not the Brunette’s IDK) I’m pretty sure we won’t see Curtiss and Palmer again. I really don’t want to see Chloe’s mom again. Please tone down the soapy melodrama in post-production as much as possible. I really do not think that is nearly as important as emphasizing and clarifying plot elements.

For example, who in the heck were the gobblydygobblydy alliance who attacked the Icharus base? Is Anubis back?

It doesn’t bother me that the air was scrubbed “too fast”. This is ultra-advanced technology we’re talking about. It could have just as easily been that they had to find the frobnitz stones to set the blorgnog scrubber.

In the past, Stargate (an many other shows) have relied on technobabble in these sorts of situations. By using real science, you get an air (pun intended) of reality.

11. Abi, just wondering if google let you sign up for a membership to blogger at all. If not, try clicking my name and see if my blog page with the hulu permalink java’d in will let you watch there. If not still, then the world wide web is really not that at all, n’est-il pas ?

Thanks for the Hulu link, John. Now that I’ve caught up, I will try to watch on the actual “boob tube”, but it’s good to have a fallback.
For those of you who somehow missed the older shows, Hulu also has all the episodes of SG-1 (and I assume SG:A) until at least May of 2010. It’s a lot of fun. Richard Dean Anderson stepped right into Kurt Russell’s shoes. And watching Don S. Davis again is always good. People miss him for a reason.
Also, the storyline (at least the first few seasons that I remember) is really very good. It was a true sequel to the movie in every way.

Watched the two parts “Air” yesterday night, on a very late re-run on Sky1 here in the UK, and loved it to bits!!! Absolutely brilliantly started, and if the rest is up to this level, we’re in for a treat.

I’m sad that the Hulu links are worthless for a “your-IP-is-non-american” viewer as me, but I hope everbody passing by here is going to click on them, ’cause they’re worth it millions :P

I confess, I’m a little confused how signing up to Blogger would help with Hulu. They use IP geolocation to block viewers from countries where they don’t have the rights negotiations sorted out. (I’m in the Netherlands.)

The Syfy link doesn’t work here either.

What I really want, of course, is someone to set Scalzi’s Balrog costume on fire so he goes and sorts Hulu and Syfy out. Failing that, a disclaimer?

I just gotta say, that the communication stones are a waaaaaay too convenient plot tool and were pulled out of the bag far too soon.

That niggle out of the way, it’s good to see/have a refreshening of the series, SG and Atlantis being a little long in the tooth. It is also enjoyable that they are an episodic journey instead of being neatly tied up each week in standalone stories. We’re only two weeks in, but I hope they continue with the little cliffhanger to keep pulling you in/forward. The in-jokes and nods to other sci-fi genres in the series itself are fun and keep it grounded.

I watched the SGU pilot last night and really enjoyed it. I was particularly intrigued by Dr Rush, who I am relieved to say is *not* a Dr McKay retread. It’s not that I didn’t like Rodney, it’s just that he was pretty predictable right from the get go. Dr Rush doesn’t appear to be that way…a very complicated guy. If I write enough today, I’ll reward myself this evening with the second part of the pilot.

My one problem is the way they handle the communication stones. It’s an interesting plot device, and it existed for previous SG shows, but the thing where the user’s actor appears on screen in someone else’s body is confusing.

The only bit that got me out of the story in the pilot was when they said something to the effect of “We have to fix the leak, or the CO2 will kill us.” Oops. Lack of O2 and too much CO2 are separate problems. I guess maybe they didn’t want to confuse the audience by presenting the two different problems…

You probably don’t want to talk about specific decisions, but I’d be curious if this was a place where your advice was ignored for story reasons.

So much for thwarting hulu from blocking non-American IP locations. I’d really rather watch on the TV myself. But being able to catch a missed program ought to be available to all, imo. Judging from general consensus, the show is a hit. More defenders than critics. I really do like it too and hope for it to have a nice long and entertaining run.

I certainly have no claim as an expert on SG “technical” continuity issues. And, the SGU program launch has definitely set it apart from previous SG incarnations adequately to let it go however it wants.

I still will complain that the melodrama and whacked-out conflict comprise not only a vast departure from the “feeling” of previous Stargates, which I’m sure many may welcome; but make up elements that may get “long in the tooth” much faster than they did in all of the soap operas that are now dropping like flies. I simply do not wish to see those kinds of things trying to be resurrected in this genre; be they intentional, or the byproduct of who happens to be available as writers, directors and post production editors.

Resurrecting “The Prisoner” series is a much more enticing endeavor.

There is really a lot in SGU not even commented upon yet. The subtle metaphysical aspect of Scott finding the right “chemistry” is operating on levels we may not quite yet comprehend. It is perhaps akin to the way the stones work, and offers something spiritual, more-so than a handy plot device.

So, John and supporters, please don’t get me wrong. The show is definitely different. O’Neil’s layed-back comment that nobody has ever been “qualified” for Stargate missions is nonetheless far too euphemistic to bemoan.

Rush telling Greer to shoot Franklin so that the portable dialing device did not go through the gate to an unknown world, was a heavily laden event.

I still hope Curtiss & Palmer make it back to the Ship. And if loose ends are going to be left undone, Please just don’t let us know what happens to Chloe’s mom :) Or perhaps briefly, I stress briefly, show her at an AA meeting.

“I just gotta say, that the communication stones are a waaaaaay too convenient plot tool and were pulled out of the bag far too soon.”

The communication stones were invented on SG-1 and used in SG-Atlantis. Either they brought some with them to the Destiny, or they didn’t. Pulling them out of the bag later would have made no sense and been a cheat.

How could Rush know for sure if it was a risk before? No one has ever been on an Ancient intergalactic starship with an automated system that automatically drops out of FTL drive for a limited period of time, dials a Stargate on a planet, and keeps it open on a time limit. How could anyone know what safety parameters are or aren’t built into the thing, other than the designers?

I hate Rush more with every episode. If he’d taken the opportunity of the recording session to say “I’m tormented by guilt because I feel responsible for all these people and I think they’re going to die,” I’d’ve warmed to him somewhat. But he isn’t feeling that. He’s only worried about himself and his exploration of the ship’s technology. If he could save himself and the ship at the expense of killing everyone else on board, I’m convinced he’d do it without remorse.

I just finished “Darkness” too. Personally, Rush has my sympathy, but I still think he’s acting like a jerk.

The HR administrator, Wray, said something about how the others can’t blame Rush for being a jerk after “the way he was treated.” I couldn’t quite figure out what she meant, but I got the feeling that she referred to the time before everyone got on the ship.

I’m glad that the angry sergeant guy (Greer) wasn’t so angry this episode. I’m glad that Chloe and Eli are getting along well. I’m glad that Lt. Scott is acting more comfortable as an officer. But mostly I’m glad that the other characters are getting more time.

Oh, I’d still like to know what happened to the shuttle that popped off at the end of the last episode.

xopher@33, your rot13 prediction is a good idea. did’nt think of that one. will tune in next week to see how it turns out.

drew@34: The HR administrator, Wray, said something about how the others can’t blame Rush for being a jerk after “the way he was treated.” I couldn’t quite figure out what she meant,

oh, I vaguely remember that scene and I remember having a “bwuh?” reaction. I don’t think they can tell us why Rush is an asshole, though, because it might cause viewers to sympathize with him. and they seem to be bent on wanting us to hate Rush.

The bit where the colonel is telling the astrophysicist to get back in the room and help Rush is kind of odd. If the astrophysicist and Rush and the Colonel have been working together for any length of time, then the Colonel would have resolved this issue between Rush and the astrophysicist. If nothing else, the astrophysicist would have known to stay in teh room no matter how many times Rush said “get out”.

And yeah, they really can start showing us Rush’s good side (if he even has one) any time now. I think they’d really be better off with him dead. I wonder if they misjudged how easy it would be to hate him, and wrote the first half of the season thinking they had to build it up. John says he’s not the bad guy—or rather that he’s not necessarily the bad guy—but he’s the worst guy aboard that ship, and he’s the one who put all these people’s lives at risk, as I’ve said before. Every one of them who dies was killed by him, even if they died doing something stupid, like the two who went through the gate from the desert planet.

I see no evidence that he cares one whit for any lives but his own, or any goals but his own. And given what a totally unscrupulous shithead he is, him saying things like “I know I’m responsible” or “I’m trying to save everyone’s life!” won’t mean shit. Manipulative lies, nothing more. So far he hasn’t bothered. I figure he expects to let them all die, so he doesn’t care what they think of him.

Gods I hate that guy.

And that astrophysicist was a total wimp. He should have said “Look, Nicky-boy, you can really take your attitude and shove it straight up your ass. I have orders to come here and help, and I don’t give a flying fuck whether you want me here or not. Either explain what’s going on, or I’m going to start doing things and see what happens…and if you physically assault me I will crush your angry little head like a melon. Or you can scream yourself hoarse for all I care. Stupid asshole.”

I think Rush would have passed out or had a stroke halfway through that speech. Either outcome would have improved matters aboard the Destiny.

Oh, and Telford? Only person giving Rush any serious competition for Shithead of the Year.

Drew, I agree about LDP. So far we’ve seen “jerk, jerk, jerk, attempted murder” in one ep and “jerk, jerk, undermine authority” in another. I sure hope they give him more to do than that.

As for Destiny, I think she’s already a character. She’s obviously smart, and has saved the characters’ lives a couple of times now, despite Rush’s best efforts to Dobson her into submission and force her to do what he thinks best—when she clearly knows better than he does. I don’t think aiming at the local sun is an accident or a mistake, for example; I think Destiny knows exactly what she’s doing.

Hey, I just thought of something. Maybe the writers are making us hate Rush so much because he’s going to get his brain replaced with Ancient tech that interfaces directly with Destiny, becoming her slave and voice. That way we won’t mind when Rush himself goes to Hell and stays there, good riddance, while Robert Carlyle gets to play a character who’s not a detestable rageaholic bastard. Everybody wins!

he’s going to get his brain replaced with Ancient tech that interfaces directly with Destiny, becoming her slave and voice.

I played that character in a role playing game once. It was… weird.

But yeah, there is a writer’s guide as to how to set up “good guy” characters so that the audience doesn’t mind so much when they die. The rule of thumb is “make them whine”. If you take a white hat character, make him a whiner, and then he gets popped, the audience isn’t going to be as fraught with emotion that they can’t handle it. And, you still get to have one of the “good” guys die, so it’s not like that team is invincible.

We’ve already seen that with the Senator giving the “I am an ass” speech, and then dying. As soon as I saw the “I am an ass” speech, he was marked for death.

It’s like a character in a war movie showing his buddy a picture of his girl back home. Within 15 minutes, you know he’s toast. But it gets the audience angry at the enemy, and then justifies whatever violence the rest of the characters inflict on the bad guys.

With SGU, if the Senator had been a good-good guy, and died, then that would have generated a lot of anger in the audience, and that anger would ahve been directed at Rush, and people would be wanting Rush’s head on a pike. So, I think they toned it down a bit by making the senator a dink, and then whacking him.

Then it’s more a “Aw, he was a good guy after all”, not “Rush just killed Bambi!”

Hmm, if I were GMing I wouldn’t give a player that role. Unless that was established from the beginning; certainly I wouldn’t do to a player what I’m proposing they do to Rush, which is eradicate everything that makes him Rush, and replace it with Destiny’s personality (connected to the actual ship, rather than a copy) for better communication. If you were a player and your character’s brain got eaten that way, I’d play that character from then on and let you create a new one.

I’m grasping at straws, you see. Robert Carlyle is in all 20 episodes this season, but that doesn’t mean the physicist-we-love-to-hate has to be; I’m trying to find any way out of having to hate my way through 16 more episodes, which are otherwise too enjoyable to skip. Hey Scalzi, they can start redeeming Rush any time now! It’s gonna take more than the rest of the season (to get him out of the “kill him NOW” category), so tell ‘em they better get started!

But yeah, I know that trick. When I saw Independence Day—and believe me once was one time too many for that piece of trash, despite Will Smith—during the scene in the locker room when Will Smith’s buddy is telling him how when it’s all over he’s gonna marry his girl or whatever, I leaned over to my companion and whispered “in the next scene, his buddy will get killed.” And, with the predictability of Z movies everywhere, he did.

The writers of SGU are better than that. But that’s damning with faint praise; I actually think the SGU writers are pretty good. In every episode they do the “it’s OK to kill him now” setup for Rush—then they don’t kill him!

The only doubt I have of the writers’ skill is that I think they may have been heavyhanded in setting Rush up to be hated. I don’t think Syfy’s audiences are quite that dense. (OTOH: Mansquito. Maybe they’re right.) I wonder if we’re supposed to hate him quite as much as we do—or as I do; I wonder if other people hate Rush the way I do, or am I just particularly sensitive to people with no conscience at all?

The GM claimed that he had a system for handling any kind of character. (It was a tweaked verion of Champions or something, can’t exactly recall). Any kind of character at all, he said. I said “What if I’m a sentient spaceship?” His jaw dropped for a moment, and then he said, “Yeah, I can do that”. So we gave it a try. Mostly his system couldn’t handle it, rather, I’d ask if I could do something a sentient ship might be expected to be able to do, and then he’d say yes or no.

But it was entertaining. I played a combination of a slightly psychopathic HAL (Yes, I suppose I should close the airlock) crossed with a very polite C3P0 (terribly sorry about that).

That’s why I like the system my friend Dave developed, which has very little “system” at all, and relies mostly on the players trusting the GM not to cheat. My players do trust me that way, after 20 years (OMG I’m olllllld!) of playing with me. It doesn’t completely eliminate rolling dice for success, an essential part of the fun for many people, but it really is much better suited for the “group storytelling” model of gaming than the “war gaming” model.

A sentient spaceship is an incredibly powerful character, probably unplayably so, but it might be possible in the right kind of campaign. If we were playing GURPS I’d make sure you took some major mental disadvantages (Truthfulness, Honesty, Code of Honor, and Slave Mentality all spring to mind…not one of them, ALL of them) to balance you with the other characters. You’d still come out in the low five digit point range, though.

In roleplaying games, “The Game Must be Fun shall be the whole of the Law.” (A second part, “Fun is the Law, Fun under Rules,” is widely disputed.) I can see how you playing a sentient spaceship would be fun for you, or for the other players, but both? A challenge.

I like a challenge. Makes me want to put together a space campaign to see.

Ha! Back on 19 October, I said I don’t think aiming at the local sun is an accident or a mistake, for example; I think Destiny knows exactly what she’s doing. And on 18 October I said (in ROT-13) I predict that in the next episode the close approach to the sun will replenish their energy reserves.